


Trip of a Lifetime

by DarkHell616



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Banter, Bonding, Cute, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Halloween, Male-Female Friendship, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Possible Romance, References to Canon, Trick 'r Treat (Movie)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29828694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkHell616/pseuds/DarkHell616
Summary: It's almost Halloween!The time for ghosts, ghouls and goblins to come out and play.It's also the time for haunts and scares alike, one such haunt being based on a certain movie that I happen to adore.My new bestie, one Dr. Spencer Reid, has decided to tag along.Who knows what will happen on this seven day journey.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Reader
Kudos: 6





	Trip of a Lifetime

“Are you ready?”

Spencer leaned into the window I had just opened, glancing over my car as he swallowed thickly.

“No, but yes.”

I laughed, shaking my head.

“Hop in and let’s get going, road trip, baby!”

“I don’t know why I agreed to this.”

He pulled away from the window and moved to the back of the car, leaving me grinning to myself.

I had been so excited upon finding a Trick ‘r Treat themed haunt for Halloween and without much hesitation Spencer had invited himself to tag along for the week long trip.

“I don’t feel right letting you go that far by yourself,” he had said.

Though I never said anything further, I had a vague feeling that there was more to it than a bout of protectiveness, but I wasn’t going to question him.

It was going to be an even better experience having Spencer tagging along.

Our first Halloween together was going to be spectacular.

I’d only known Spencer for about five and a half months before this trip came around.

_We met by chance in a museum during a strange exhibit that was part art installments and part dangerous and macabre artifacts from years past._

_He had caught me bent over, reading one of the information plaques about a collection of rustic and horrific looking medical instruments and had started giving me more information than any of the provided slabs, thus leading to him becoming something of an accidental personal tour guide._

_It was early afternoon by the time we left the gallery-museum hybrid, I had taken many pictures of the weirder and more grotesque artifacts of the place and this random guy, who eventually introduced himself as Spencer, seemed to have run out of facts to spout._

_“Well,” I said, shoving my phone into my pocket after checking over the last photo I had taken, “your throat must be dry after all that talking.”_

_“I hope you don’t mind me usurping your morning,” he replied, looking around as people walked past us._

_“Not at all, you made it vastly more interesting,” I smiled, “so it only seems fair that I offer to get you a drink or something, to make up for all the vocal usage that you’ve sadly wasted on me.”_

_“Was it that boring?” He asked, giving an unsure laugh._

_“No, more I’ll remember a few things you’ve told me and then forget them by the time I’ve put in my salad order.”_

_“I don’t mind reminding you.”_

_“Planning on sticking with my boring ass?”_

_“I didn’t let you speak enough to be the judge of that,” he smiled._

_“Okay, let’s grab some lunch and I’ll give you an hour to find out how boring I am.”_

For whatever reason, we struck up a friendship and arranged to meet up the next time he had a free Saturday, this time to check out a tiny, tucked away museum I knew of that housed an impressive number of interesting and downright bizarre biological specimens from animal kind.

Even all these months later, I still couldn’t fathom why such an exceedingly intelligent man would wish to hang around with an average intelligence simpleton like myself, but I accepted and ran with it.

A friend is a friend all the same.

I looked in the rear-view mirror to see what he was up to just as he closed the trunk then made his way to the passenger side door, finally opening it to climb inside.

“Come on, I want to get going to that haunt, I plan on nabbing me a little Sam actor.”

“Did you just admit to planning a kidnapping to a federal agent?”

“I did, he’s a little pumpkin boy and I love him” I grinned, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel as he clipped himself in. “But you’re not on duty and we’re best friends, you wouldn’t arrest a best friend, right?”

I gave my best attempt at a pout, which at least made him smile and roll his eyes while turning his attention towards the road.

“I think it’s be we just go before I do decide to cuff you”

“Oh, kinky.”

He laughed slightly and shook his head as I started the engine and got us on the road.

The trip would take us a collective twenty-two hours and that didn’t included any stops we were going to make on the way.

It was going to be a proper road trip, just the two of us.

A true bonding experience that could test our newly formed friendship, I’d heard plenty of horror stories of how trips have broken down even long-term relationships but surely we were more mature than that.

Or maybe I needed to stop listening to TTS Reddit stories on Youtube before I got too paranoid.

The roads were pretty empty as we made our way out of Quantico, most people would probably in work or in school, having their lunch before getting stuck in the hustle and bustle of rush hour traffic in two hours’ time.

“So, I was thinking,” I said, flicking down the indicator as my eyes looked into my mirrors, “that we could drive for about ten hours, find somewhere to sleep and hit the road early tomorrow morning.”

“Okay,” he nodded, a barely there movement in my peripheral vision, “I can take over if you need a break in the meantime.”

“I thought you didn’t like driving?”

“I don’t, I’d rather avoid it where I can but I can’t let you drive tired and your eyes will need a rest, so I’m willing to make that sacrifice.”

“Thank you,” I smiled, “a true saint.”

With the sun beaming down and warming the cooling fall air, we were on our way.

The first trip of our friendship.

A make or break of our relationship, but I was pretty damn certain that we’d make it by without incident.


End file.
